1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a breather device for engine, in which an inlet of a breather chamber communicates with a crank chamber of an engine through a reed valve that allows gas to flow only in one direction from the crank chamber side to the breather chamber side, the reed valve being formed of: a valve seat formed on an end face of the inlet facing the breather chamber; a fixed stopper plate arranged so as to be opposed to and distanced form the valve seat; and an elastic valve plate fixed at one end thereof to the stopper plate and capable of bending elastically to change its position from a closed position to an opening limit position, the closed position being a position in which the elastic valve plate closes the inlet by seating on the valve seat, the opening limit position being a position in which the elastic valve plate opens the inlet and abuts against the stopper plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a breather device for engine is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 64-4812, for example.
In the conventional breather device for engine, gas sent under pressure from a crank chamber to a breather chamber includes lubricant oil mist, and the oil mist might adhere to an elastic valve plate or a stopper plate of a reed valve. Such oil mist adherence possibly causes the elastic valve plate to stick to the stopper plate when the elastic valve plate is brought to an opening limit position in which the elastic valve plate abuts against the stopper plate. This might inhibit the closing operation of the elastic valve plate, which is to be performed when the crank chamber is decompressed. As a result, the crank chamber cannot be kept under negative pressure.